San Antonio-based startup Forward Edge-AI Inc. received funding from Microsoft Corp. for Blaise, the company's handheld device, which is designed to detect pathogens on hard surfaces, CEO Eric Adolphe told the Business Journal.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) provided this funding through its Black Partner Growth Initiative program, which is designed to support Black tech companies and entrepreneurs. The exact amount of funding was not disclosed.
As previously reported, Forward Edge has been working with Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, which is about 70 miles north of downtown Houston, to develop a device able to detect 32 different pathogens such as MRSA and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Initial funding for the project was provided through a Small Business Innovation Research phase 1 contract with AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force.
With the Microsoft funding, Forward Edge plans to create a light manufacturing assembly facility in San Antonio, Adolphe said, adding that he plans to start looking for an exact location in January with the hopes of finding a suitable and cost-effective location near one of the Joint Base San Antonio bases.
"I hope this [contract] helps to accelerate the San Antonio SBIR ecosystem," Adolphe said.
Last week, the Business Journal reported that the company had received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation through a phase 2 SBIR contract to further develop its anti-phone phishing app Gabriel. The NSF previously awarded the company a phase 1 grant that enabled it to develop this app into a commercially viable product.
Through that SBIR contract, Forward Edge is looking to hire roughly seven local interns and 13 professionals for tasks including machine learning and artificial intelligence; mobile app development; and security and operations. These professionals are separate from the employees that Forward Edge will hire once its manufacturing facility is built, Adolphe said.
